Fish-rich diet 'lowers heart disease risk'

Men who eat diets rich in oily fish such as salmon and tuna may be less likely to develop heart disease, scientists claim.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh suggest that the omega-3 fatty acids in these fish could prevent clogged arteries despite other cardiovascular risk factors.

Writing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, they say the findings could explain why the death rate from coronary heart disease in Japan is low.

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Their study found that compared to middle-aged white men or Japanese-American men living in the US, Japanese men living in Japan had twice the blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

Japanese people eat about three ounces of fish daily, on average, while typical Americans eat fish about twice a week.

Nutritional studies show that the intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish averages 1.3 grams per day in Japan, as compared to 0.2 grams per day in the United States.

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The researchers studied 868 randomly selected men aged 40 to 49.

Of these, 281 were Japanese men from Kusatsu, Japan; 306 were white men from Allegheny County, US; and 281 were third- or fourth-generation Japanese-American men from Honolulu, Hawaii.

All study participants had a physical examination, completed a lifestyle questionnaire and had standard blood tests to evaluate cardiovascular health.

Laboratory tests also measured total blood levels of fatty acids and the omega-3 fatty acids that come from fish as well as cholesterol build-up in the arteries.

Lead researcher Dr Akira Sekikawa said the study 'clearly demonstrated that whites and Japanese-Americans have similar levels of atherosclerosis [clogged arteries], which are much higher than in the Japanese in Japan'.

'This indicates that much lower death rates from coronary heart disease in the Japanese in Japan is very unlikely due to genetic factors,' Dr Sekikawa added.

Commenting on the study, Dr William Harris, director of the Metabolism and Nutrition Research Centre, South Dakota, said: 'The take-home message from this important study is this: traditional risk factors lead to traditional amounts of artery-clogging plaque but only when the background diet, perhaps the lifetime diet, is chronically deficient in omega-3 fatty acids.

'Increase the omega-3 intake and heart disease rates in the west should begin to move closer to those in Japan.'

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